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I am gearing up for my first Forgotten Realms campaign (as both DM and player) in a few weeks once my current adventure ends.
I have the FRCS/Player's Guide, but no other books. I have never read a FR novel, but I am familiar with the material (through sourcebooks, video-games, and the internet).
I was hoping the fine community here would have some suggestions, namely I have a few questions I would appreciate being addressed:
1. My group is most interested in the Sword Coast. I am planning on starting at 1st level, where are some good places to get players into the feel of the setting without overwhelming them?
2. Are there any 3rd Edition books that really help with the setting (I also have Underdark)?
3. Any houserules people have found more enjoyable (for example, I was planning on Regional feats as bonus feats)?
4. Any really good modules for 3rd Edition, at any level of play?
5. The party looks to be heavily magic oriented. Any roleplaying consequences of magic I should be aware of (for example, something like the War Wizards)?
I really plan on this being an immersive roleplay-based campaign, heavy on realism and story. Preferable I would like to set it somewhere where I can tinker with the setting, as some of the players are more familiar with the Realms than myself.
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How much FR do your Players know -- if they know lots then you may have a problem. If not then it'll be just like any other new campaign and you shouldn't run into any problems.
As far as "where" that depends on what you guys want in a game:
Luskan,
Neverwinter,
Waterdeep,
Baldur's Gate.
Each has its own feel.
The FRCS is awesome. You need nothing else except the novels.
If you want to touch a little of everything then you could
A} Start at Candlekeep with a mission from the Monks
B} Start in a wharf with a job from sailors/ pirates
then just go from place to place in a little homebrew-designed adventure series.
If you want an immersive "intro" then,
The "Vampires of Waterdeep" Trilogy in Dungeon is a great place to begin: great adventures, good feel for FR, but the levels are a little high. These are in the 120s of Dungoen.
Also, "Practical Magic" takes place in Cormyr but you could easily put it in Waterdeep, Neverwinter or Baldur's Gate. I think it's around Dungeon 95-109 or so.
But if you really want some fun and do some work, The Mere of Dead Men 5-part series is Dungeon 69-73 and is specatcular. The "Mere" is just north of Waterdeep; this is an adventure where a cult of Yuan-Ti are doing cloning experiments.
And if you really, really want some work, Wolfgang Baur's FIRST EVER adventure is an FR adventure called something like The Glass House and is in Dungeon 15. It takes place just north of Waterdeep, too.
-W. E. Ray
Son of a flying monkey!
I had a really long post for you, but apparently I fell victim to the "Back to Message Boards" instead of "Post Message" mistake and lost the whole freaking thing.
I'll get back to you when I can bear to try, try again.
I am gearing up for my first Forgotten Realms campaign (as both DM and player) in a few weeks once my current adventure ends.
I have the FRCS/Player's Guide, but no other books. I have never read a FR novel, but I am familiar with the material (through sourcebooks, video-games, and the internet).
I was hoping the fine community here would have some suggestions, namely I have a few questions I would appreciate being addressed:
1. My group is most interested in the Sword Coast. I am planning on starting at 1st level, where are some good places to get players into the feel of the setting without overwhelming them?
2. Are there any 3rd Edition books that really help with the setting (I also have Underdark)?
3. Any houserules people have found more enjoyable (for example, I was planning on Regional feats as bonus feats)?
4. Any really good modules for 3rd Edition, at any level of play?
5. The party looks to be heavily magic oriented. Any roleplaying consequences of magic I should be aware of (for example, something like the War Wizards)?
I really plan on this being an immersive roleplay-based campaign, heavy on realism and story. Preferable I would like to set it somewhere where I can tinker with the setting, as some of the players are more familiar with the Realms than myself.
1) You might also start a little south at the small town of Daggerford, or inland within the Silver Marches, and then make your way to the Sword Coast. Just a thought.
2) Waterdeep products are more-or-less limited to the City of Splendors book. I own just about all the WotC 3.x FR books (except Dragons of Faerun IIRC). The area was left alone to some degree. You might find some interesting history in the Grand History of the Realms and Lost Empires of Faerun, however.
3) Can't say anything here.
4) Anything created by Paizo in the Dungeon era is golden.
Oh, something constructive was what you wanted?
Some good stuff has already been named. You could also probably use a few others when you get to higher levels: there was a pair of Dungeon modules that had more to do with the inland reaches and Malar's cult whose names I'm blanking on.
5) If you're in Waterdeep, there's information on the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors that you'll need to think about if you get City of Splendors, as they unofficially police mages in the city. None of the other Sword Coast locales have any major roleplaying issues that I can currently recall.
Waterdeep is a place I've used many a time. For all that has been written about it, there's always room to tinker with the city and its people. You've got an enormous deathtrap, er, dungeon beneath it (Undermountain) to send PCs into when they absolutely crave bloodshed, you can sail out onto the Trackless Sea, engage in political intrigue, become a merchant prince, serve your city as a member of the Watch--you name it, you can do it. Baldur's Gate has been seen quite a bit in certain popular video games, is quite large, but leaves plenty of room for adventurers to act as they like.
As always, remember that what the player knows about the setting is as only good until you change that little fact about the setting.
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How much FR do your Players know -- if they know lots then you may have a problem. If not then it'll be just like any other new campaign and you shouldn't run into any problems.
One potential player (who might not even end up playing) has read pretty much every novel - I was actually going to use him as a resource, he isn't the sort to "call me" on anything. He has admitted that his knowledge is more limited to specific characters and events, and less to major storylines (ie. he hasn't read any of the RPG books on the Realms).
I think Waterdeep is an attractive option so far, as it gives me a big city and dungeon to go to when I need it.
I didn't think "Son of a Flying Monkey!" was set in FR.
Not even Al-Qadim?
I didn't think "Son of a Flying Monkey!" was set in FR.Not even Al-Qadim?
Oriental Adventures?
Okay, I'll try this again. I was trying to be uber helpful and put links in for everything I was mentioning, but all that got me last time was heartbreak ;)
Anyway, beyond the FRCS and the Player's Guide, I'd also pick up Lost Empires of Faerun and A Grand History of the Realms, as that is a great, great resource.
Also, if you are interested in Waterdeep, the City of Splendors: Watedeep 3.5 hardback is helpful, as is the Expedition to Undermountain adventure, and I'm suggesting that not even for the adventure in it (which is more of an outline of a campaign), but for the source material on Undermountain.
If you are open to it, you may want to go to the downloads section here at Paizo and pick up the 2nd Edition City of Splendors Campaign Set PDF, as well as the Volo's Guide to Waterdeep PDF, as well as Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. You may also be interested in getting the PDF of the Skullport 2nd edition sourcebook.
If you go here:
You can download Volo's Guide to the North and the North Campaign Set from 2nd edition for free.
Also, there are two useful Web Enhancements for the Waterdeep sourcebook:
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Thanks JR,
I do already have the Undermountain - I like the fluff in that book very much, so that is a plus.
I will probably check out Waterdeep, but I'm not sure about buying a ton of pdfs until I get a better idea of what I am after. Candlekeep has been very helpful in finding campaign flavour!
EDIT: Anyone have the Noble Houses tables in spreadsheet form?
When you go looking through those older PDFs, see if you can find a copy of The North(I believe this on is available in the archives of WotC still), as well as Waterdeep and the North and Ruins of Undermountain. You may later find that a copy of The Silver Marches is useful (3.0 book here).
Many other excellent suggestions have been made as well. Keep us apprised of the situation and feel free to ask more questions!
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My advice: Change things if you want to; if you feel something doesn't make sense in the 'official' material don't be afraid to change it. Ed Greenwood is reported to run a long term game that bore little/no resemblence to the 'official' material posted by Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro, even before the changes initiated to bring about the 4E rendition of the Forgotten Realms got under way.
Of course if you do decide to make adjustments it's only fair to make clear to players at the start that events will have been tweaked to fit your own preferences and campaign....
I agree. I will probably use 1372 DR as a starting point (or maybe even after the Avatar Crisis), so I can ignore all the recent glut of novels and new supplements that change a great deal.
Oriental Adventures?I didn't think "Son of a Flying Monkey!" was set in FR.Not even Al-Qadim?
I believe Flying Monkeys were published in Dragon not to long ago. By Paizo none the less in third edition stats. Can't remember the issue though...
My advice: Change things if you want to; if you feel something doesn't make sense in the 'official' material don't be afraid to change it. Ed Greenwood is reported to run a long term game that bore little/no resemblence to the 'official' material posted by Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro, even before the changes initiated to bring about the 4E rendition of the Forgotten Realms got under way.
To be fair, Ed's campaign is still set in the pre Time of Troubles Realms, so its not so much that he's changed anything from TSR/WOTCs material, but that he is still playing in the timeline he started, and not adopting changes that others might have made in the interim.
I know its kind of subtle, but the original comment almost sounds like you wouldn't recognize Ed's Realms compared to the WOTC Realms, and that's not 100% accurate.
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To be fair, Ed's campaign is still set in the pre Time of Troubles Realms, so its not so much that he's changed anything from TSR/WOTCs material, but that he is still playing in the timeline he started, and not adopting changes that others might have made in the interim.I know its kind of subtle, but the original comment almost sounds like you wouldn't recognize Ed's Realms compared to the WOTC Realms, and that's not 100% accurate.
I am strongly considering setting the game during the Avatar Crisis, but the FRCS is very lacking in specific detail about the events of this time. I don't really want to buy any novels, so anyone have any resources about this time period?
The original gray box Forgotten Realms Campaign setting has information from that era. Really, any of the 1st edition stuff/early 2nd-edition material. The modules and novels for that event (Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep) as well. IIRC there's only 1, maybe 2 years between the original campaign setting and the Godswar.
Edit: Grand History of the Realms will have information as well.
Oriental Adventures?I didn't think "Son of a Flying Monkey!" was set in FR.Not even Al-Qadim?
Sure you're not thinking Greyhawk?
What about a Pathfinder conversion?
Edit:
With regard to the inquiry made about Time of Troubles resources, wasn't there a set of modules released which covered the avatar crisis (although obviously some edition conversion work might be needed for them)?
Yes, they are Shadowdale, Tantras, and Waterdeep; the same name as the novels.
As to your question about the nature of the pre-Crisis pantheon, yes, there are a few differences. Back then, you had Bane and then Xvim, the Godson. Myrkul was Lord of the Dead, Bhaal was Lord of Murder. Moander was the god of decay. Not too much else to note: everyone else was added in and noted as having been there for a long time.
I really plan on this being an immersive roleplay-based campaign, heavy on realism and story. Preferable I would like to set it somewhere where I can tinker with the setting, as some of the players are more familiar with the Realms than myself.
If you can find them on the WotC boards, there was a series of articles in 2006 by Ed Greenwood that gave overviews and hooks for various kingdoms and areas of an region called the Border Kingdoms.
There were hooks and background galore for this area, and I believe that it was posted on the WotC site because it was cut from printed sourcebooks due to space, so most people shouldn't be too familiar with the area, so you could tinker away without upsetting the overall Realms too much.
I really plan on this being an immersive roleplay-based campaign, heavy on realism and story. Preferable I would like to set it somewhere where I can tinker with the setting, as some of the players are more familiar with the Realms than myself.If you can find them on the WotC boards, there was a series of articles from March to October 2006 by Ed Greenwood that gave overviews and hooks for various kingdoms and areas of an region called the Border Kingdoms.
There were hooks and background galore for this area, and I believe that it was posted on the WotC site because it was cut from printed sourcebooks due to space, so most people shouldn't be too familiar with the area, so you could tinker away without upsetting the overall Realms too much.
Info on the Border Kingdoms is in Powers of Faerun. Is any of this reprinted on the WotC boards or vice versa?
Info on the Border Kingdoms is in Powers of Faerun. Is any of this reprinted on the WotC boards or vice versa?
I really plan on this being an immersive roleplay-based campaign, heavy on realism and story. Preferable I would like to set it somewhere where I can tinker with the setting, as some of the players are more familiar with the Realms than myself.If you can find them on the WotC boards, there was a series of articles from March to October 2006 by Ed Greenwood that gave overviews and hooks for various kingdoms and areas of an region called the Border Kingdoms.
There were hooks and background galore for this area, and I believe that it was posted on the WotC site because it was cut from printed sourcebooks due to space, so most people shouldn't be too familiar with the area, so you could tinker away without upsetting the overall Realms too much.
The information on the Border Kingdoms in Powers of Faerun was pruned way down in the name of space. Ed Greenwood didn't want all the material that couldn't be included in the book to go to waste so he did the articles as a sort of web enhancement.
The information on the Border Kingdoms in Powers of Faerun was pruned way down in the name of space. Ed Greenwood didn't want all the material that couldn't be included in the book to go to waste so he did the articles as a sort of web enhancement.
Thought so. Powers was a recent purchase spurred on by the advent of 4E, I haven't gone looking for web enhancements for it yet-been too busy.
I did a little searching at WotC and here is a link to the archive for the Border Kingdoms articles.
Also, in the very first article there is a link to a map of the Border Kingdoms region
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Thanks for the Links...might have a sidetrek or two to the Borders. I picked up the 3.5 Waterdeep book, pretty solid so far through the History chapter.
This was pretty much what I was hoping for, lots of detail on the Lords and factions, but enough gray area to have the PCs leave their mark on the city.
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You should try and find a copy of the old (2e) "City System" boxed set. It had 10 poster-sized maps of the city (they fit together to form one GIGANTIC map of the city)...
Paizo has the PDF for $4.00, but you would have to goto a place like kinkos to do the maps justice (which, when lacking the hard copy, would be well worth it IMO)...
I did a (real) quick check online, and unfortunatly, could not find a (used) copy :-(
-That One Digitalelf Fellow-
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You should try and find a copy of the old (2e) "City System" boxed set. It had 10 poster-sized maps of the city (they fit together to form one GIGANTIC map of the city)...
Paizo has the PDF for $4.00, but you would have to goto a place like kinkos to do the maps justice (which, when lacking the hard copy, would be well worth it IMO)...
I did a (real) quick check online, and unfortunatly, could not find a (used) copy :-(
-That One Digitalelf Fellow-
This is my one complaint about the Wizards book, it has a great detailed map of the whole city (and a downloadable environs map) but the map is on like 10 pages. I need to crack open my scanner, unless someone knows where I can find something online?
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I found this here. But it has some campaign "markings" on it...
The 1e "Waterdeep and the North" booklet, has the 1st map of Waterdeep to see print (officially), which is pretty much the same as the one on the link I provided above...
Paizo, has "Waterdeep and the North" here for $4.00 on PDF...
But if what you're looking for is an online version of the maps from the book you already have, those are Here
-That One Digitalelf Fellow-